Day Off!

For Sophia's 4th birthday, I got my baby girl a kitten. We had just moved into our own apartment, so it was about time she had a pet of her own. I searched for a Russian Blue, because they are hypoallergenic and that was the type of cat I had as a little girl. My step-father is allergic to cats and I never wanted to live in a home that he could not come to visit comfortably. He actually was the one who found the cat that would eventually be Sophia's. Her name is Tina Ballerina. She is most likely not a full Russian Blue, because she was a rescue, but her dander count is way lower than almost any other non-hypo cat. Most of the people I know who are allergic report back that their symptoms are not as severe in my home as opposed to any other place that has cats. Tina is a bit feisty. She bites at times, but is very good with children. She is great with my nephews. Collin who is scared of most animals, except bugs, searches her out when he comes over. The only time she acts out on Soph, is when my darling angel is way too rough with her. Sophia is like that Loony Tunes character who gets ahold of a pet and exclaims, "I wanna hold you, and squeeze you, and love you forever" as the cats eyes pop out of its head from being squeezed too tightly. I can't blame Tina at that point. I even had to set up safety zones, so if the cat needs to get away, Sophia is not allowed to get her. Ms. Ballerina does love Soph though. Every night Tina stands guard in her room as she goes to bed. This is the one time Sophia doesn't want her cat around and she makes me take her out of the room.
Tina has never had much interaction with other cats since I adopted her. Tonight one of my girlfriends offered to cook us dinner, so we can bring Tina to her house to play. She has 3 cats, so it will be interesting how Tina manages with other feline companions. Sophia loves my friend's one cat, Dexter. Dexter will let her drag him all around and not put up a fight. Tina could use a few pointers.
Not having to cook today left me wondering what I was going to post. I am not obligated to post here everyday and there will be days that I don't cook for some reason or another, but I enjoy blogging. I came up with two things to share:

1. Halloween is on a Monday this year. It is a tradition in my family for everyone to congregate at my sisters for pizza and then my brother-in-law and I take the kids trick-or-treating. Until I realized this coming Monday was Halloween, I had fully planned to use some of the Lentil Sauce I have frozen for dinner and share the recipe. I guess I will do that one other day during the week. Looks like 2 dinners out of next week are already planned. I may look for a fun vegetarian lunch to make and share for Monday.
2. Neither Soph or I will use the end pieces of a loaf of bread. I usually save them with the intent to take her to feed the birds, but they wind up getting moldy and then trashed. This morning I finished a loaf of bread and decided to put the two end pieces in the freezer. They can be used when making a whole chicken or turkey to hold the stuffing inside the cavity. Maybe I will make some home-made croutons, since I never buy them. Also, I could save up some ends and make a batch of breadcrumbs. I don't know exactly what I will do with them right now, but they will be used!